Crystal analysis apparatus



N A M E L O C E Iw CRYSTAL ANALYSIS APPARATUS Original Filed May 18, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet l FIG.1.

Ill, k 210 I INVENTOR.

JOSEPH E. COLE MAN p 3947- J. E. COLEMAN 2,418,463

CRYS TAL ANALYS I S APPARATU S Original Filed May 18, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIGA.

IN VEN TOR.

J OSE PH E. COLE MAN Patented Apr. 8, 1947 CRYSTAL ANALYSIS APPARATUS Joseph E. Coleman, Red Bank, N. J., assignor to the Government of the United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of War Original application May 18, 1945, Serial No.

Divided and this application December 18, 1945, Serial No. 635,829

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 75'!) 3 Claims.

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes, without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to an apparatus for determining the locations of the axes in crystals, and more particularly, to polariscopes, conoscopes, and auxiliary clamps, and jigs used for facilitating proper orientation of unfaced quartz crystals and subsequent cutting of the oriented crystals.

This application is a division of my parent application entitled Crystal analysis apparatus, Serial Number 594,467, filed May 18, 1945.

The manufacture of the piezo-electric vibrator plates used in the radio industry for stabilizing the frequency of oscillators and band-pass filters depends upon the state of the quartz crystal, i. e., Whether it has crystal faces or areas on that surface that have a well-defined pattern, or whether the crystal pattern has been obliterated by the erosive action. The faced" quartz has crystal faces which at once define the location of certain guiding lines through the crystal, called the reference axes, for crystal cutting, and it is comparatively simple to determine the positions of these guiding lines in the faced quartz, since they have definite relations to the various faces. The bulk of the raw material, however, comes in irregular masses broken out of large mother crystals with no evidence of any of the crystal faces. This is known as unfaced quartz, and in the manufacture of oscillator plates it becomes necessary to locate accurately the reference axes in order that the final plate will have a definite pre-selected relationship with respect to these references axes. This is known as orientation of the oscillator plate.

The steps that are followed in obtaining properly oriented oscillator plates from an irregular mass of raw unfaced quartz are: Identification of the reference axes, or the Z, X and Y axes, the handedness of the crystal, and the electrical polarity of the X-axis.

The invention discloses improvements in the apparatus for identifying the Z-axis or optical axis of the quartz crystal when it is in the form of an irregular mass of unfaced quartz. More specifically the invention resides in the improvements in the polariscope, the conoscope, and the provision of auxiliary clamp and jig which can be used with the polariscope and conoscope, respectively, for determining the optical axis of quartz, and upon the determination of the optical axis, the jig, together with the quartz specimen fastened to it, can be transferred directly to a cutting saw; the polariscope, the conoscope, the jig, and the cutting saw are all provided with the reference surfaces or planes which are used for transferring conveniently the optical axis determinations made in the polariscope and conoscope onto the turn-table of th cutting saw.

In the prior art neither the polariscope nor the conoscope were provided with the reference surfaces or clamps and jigs disclosed in this specification, with the result that the precise optical axis determinations, especially those possible with the conoscope, were, to a very large extent, lost during the transfer of quartz from the polariscope or conoscope onto the turn-table of the cutting saw. The invention discloses improvements in the above-mentioned apparatus which eliminate the errors which took place during the orientation process of the unfaced quartz with the old methods.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a polariscope and a conoscope with the instrumentalities which make it possible to orient the unfaced quartz crystal in the proper manner with respect to the polarized light for determining the Z-axis of the crystal, these instrument-alities including reference surfaces, preferably plane surfaces, in the polariscope and conoscope which match the reference surface of the jig, and a corresponding reference surface on the turn-table of the cutting saw, whereby the optical axis determinations obtained in the polariscope can be conveniently transferred from the polariscope to the cutting saw and from the cutting saw to the conoscope, and the optical axis determinations made in the conoscope may be transferred to the turntable of the cutting saw without the loss of precision in determining the optical axis which is possible with the polariscope and the conoscope.

It is an additional object of this invention to provide a jig suitable for orienting the unfaced crystals in the conoscope, the jig including a fiat rectangular base plate, a second rectangular plate hingedly mounted on the top of the base plate so that the second plate may be placed at an angle with respect to the base plate, the hinged plate being provided with a circular well, a disk mounted in the well, and instrumentalities for turning this disk and for locking it in the well in any desired angular position with respect to the second plate.

These and other features of the invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of the polariscope with a stand for the clamp used in connection with the polariscope,

Figure 2 is an elevational view of the tongs clamp used in ,connection with the polariscope illustrated in Fig. 1,

Figure 2A is a side view of the upper portion of the clamp shown in Fig. 2,

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the jig used in the conoscope,

Figure 4 is the vertical cross-sectional view of the conoscope with the conoscope jig placed in its tank,

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the turn-table and of the diamond-saw disk used for cutting quartz crystals,

Figures 6, '7, and 8, are views of the interference patterns obtainable in the conoscope.

The approximate determination of the Z-axis is usually carried out in the polariscope. This is a glass-walled immersion tank I0, Fig. 1, fitted with a reflecting mirror I2 at one end with a source of ordinary or partially monochromatic light I4 at the other end. Polaroid plates I 6 and I8, with their transmission axes set at right angles, are placed at each end of the tank so that the light is cut off when the source of light is viewed in the reflecting mirror. The tank contains a liquid having the same, or nearly the same, index of refraction as the average index of refraction of quartz for increasing the amount of incident light that enters the quartz. In air, much of the incident light would be lost by refraction and scattering at a quartz surfaces. The immersion liquid commonly used is Russian mineral oil although its index is less than that of quartz; Tricresyl phosphate and Tetralin have better indices but are injurious to the skin.

For obtaining the direction of the optical axis only in a very approximate manner, the quartz is placed in a polariscope by hand and rotated by hand until the Z-axis is approximately parallel to the direction of the polarized light. The light emerging from the quartz will no longer be polarized in the plane of polarization it had when it entered the quartz since quartz rotates the plane of polarization. Since the plane of polarization has been changed. the second polaroid I8 no longer cuts off the light and a brilliant image of the quartz and an interference pattern is seen in the reflecting mirror. When this is the case, the Z-axis is parallelJo the direction of the incident light. B

After the quartz has thus been oriented, it is removed from tank I0 and placed in the clamp illustrated in Fig. 2 with the Z-axis being in a plane parallel to the bottom plate 202 of a stand 20I which supports the clamp and also parallel to a reference surface 233. Since quartz 200 has been held by the hand of the operator, relatively large errors take place during transferring of quartz from tank I0 to the clamp, and it is reoriented once more in the polariscope with the aid of the clamp.

The clamp itself consists of adjustable tongs '203, 204 connected to a thumb screw 205 by means of threaded blocks 206 and 201. which are swiveled in the upper portion of the tongs by means of bolts 208 and 209. The spacing between the tongs can be either increased or decreased by turning thumb screw 205. The tongs swivel around a pin 2 I0 mounted in a bifurcated member 2l2, welded to a ball 2 I8, as seen more clearly in Fig. 2A. The vertical position of the tongs with respect to the bifurcated member 2I2 is fixed by means of pin 2I0, links 2I3 and 2I4, and a pin 2I6, pin 2I6 sliding up and down in a slit 2 I! when the thumb screw 205 is adjusted. The upper portion of the bifurcated member 2I2 terminates in a ball 2"! which fits into a socket 2I9, the two forming a ball-and-socket joint. The ball-and-socket joint may be turned or tilted to any desired position and clamped in the desired position by means of a threaded clamping member 220. Socket 2I9 is connected to a forwardly extending rectangular bar 222 provided with a vertical slot 22l. Fig. 2A, and the position of the clamp with respect to bar 222 may be adjusted by sliding it back and forth in slot 22 I, whereupon it may be locked in any desired position along the slot by means of a threaded locking knob 224. The upper portion of socket member 2I9 is provided with a guiding member 223, Fig. 2A which prevents member 2I9 from turning in slot 22l. Bar 222 is fastened to two brackets 225 and 226 which, together with two cross-members 221 and 229 (Fig 2A) form a rectangular opening which fits over a rectangular rod 228 of the stand, the rod being fastened to the base plate 202 of the stand. The entire clamp may be raised or lowered on the rectangular-rod 228 by operating a set screw 230.

After the approximate determination of the Z- axis has been accomplished, with the crystal held by the hand of the operator, quartz crystal 200 is transferred to the clamp and clamped between the tongs 203 and 204 in the manner indicated in Fig. 2, and the entire clamp is removed from rod 228 and placed on a similar rod 25 of a stand 24, Fig. l, in tank I0 of the polariscope. In Fig. 2 the adjustable tongs 203 and 204 have been turned from their normal position for illustrating more clearly their construction; in actual use they are turned in the socket joint 2I8--2I9 around the vertical axis so as to be at right angles to the position indicated in Fig. 2. The side of rod 25 visible in Fig. 1 Is parallel to the direction of the parallel component of the polarized light reaching the plane of the mirror. The position of quartz specimen 200 with respect to the incident light is now adiusted once more by using the ball-and-socket joint 2I8, 2l9 and by sliding the clamp in the horizontal slot 22l. When the brightest obtainable image of the quartz specimen and the brightest interference pattern is obtained on mirror I2, the ball-and-socket joint is locked by means of the locking member 220. The position of the clamp in the horizontal slot is also locked by means of locking knob 224. It is now possible to transfer the quartz specimen once more back to stand 20I. the rectangular rods 25 and 228 acting as guiding means for the clamp while it is on stand 24 as well as on stand 20I so that the position of Z-axis, as determined in the polariscope, may now be retained with a greater degree of accuracy during this transferring of the quartz from the polariscope to stand 20 I. Base plate 202 of stand MI is provided with a rectangular bar 232 placed in front of rod 228 and extending across the base plate. The side surface 233 of this bar, visible in Fig. 2, is parallel to the visible front surface of rod 228 (i. e. both surfaces are at right angles to the bottom and top surfaces of base plate 202). It is surface 233 of bar 232 and flat surfaces of plate 202 that act as the previously mentioned reference surfaces, and they are used for transferring the second Z-axis determination (with the clamp) to the conoscope with the aid of the cutting jig illustrated in Fig. 3 which is provided with the reference surfaces 30!, 303 and 305, Fig. 3, either surface 303 or 301 matching surface 233 during the succeeding transferring operations.

After this second determination of the Z-axis in the polariscope with the aid of the clamp, the quartz specimen is cemented to the cutting jig illustrated in Figs. 3 and 2.

The jig consists of a fiat rectangular base plate 300, a smaller rectangular plate 302 hinged to one edge of the base plate 300 by means of set screws 304 and 305 which terminate in the adjustable cone bearings within plate 302. The set screws are fastened to the base plate 300 by means of rectangular blocks 306 and 308, and locking nuts. A set screw 310 is in threaded engagement with the upper plate 302, the lower portion of the set screw terminating in a conical bearing provided on plate 300 so that turning of the set screw raises or lowers plate 302 in the manner illustrated in Fig. 3. The position of plate 302 may be locked in any desired angular position with respect to plate 300 by means of a locking nut 312 mounted on a threaded rod 311 fixed to plate 300. The adjustable plate 302 is provided with a round well or a counter-bore for accommodating a disk 314. Disk 314 projects above the upper surface of plate 302 and the projecting portion of the disk is provided with holes 316 which are used for turning the disk by means of a bent wire wrench 318. Thelower portion of disk 314 is beveled so that locking shoes 320 and 322, with corresponding circular beveled edges which engage disk 314, will hold the disk down against plate 302 as well as lock it against rotation when shoe 322 is pressed against the disk. The locking shoes 320 and 322 are mounted in two slots with beveled side edges, such as 323 and 324, which engage the beveled side edges of the shoes so that tight engagement of the beveled and circularly curved inner ends of the shoes against the beveled rim of the disk is possible without lifting of the shoes out of their seats in plate 302, The locking shoes are diametrically opposite each other on two sides of disk 314. Shoe 320 is held fixed in plate 302 by means of a set screw 326, while shoe 322 is connected to a locking lever arm 306 operated by a cam 321 working between the bifurcated members 328 and 329 of the arm. The cam is mounted on a pin 330 which is fixed to plate 302. Approximately mid-way between the bifurcated end of the arm and a springcontrolled fulcrum 332 at the opposite end of the arm, the arm is fastened to shoe 322 by a set screw 334 with the result that turning of cam 321 oscillates the arm around its fulcrum 332 and shifts the locking shoe 322 either into the locked or unlocked positions. When shoe 322 is in the locking position the pressures exerted by the two shoes hold disk 314 down against the bottom of the well in plate 302 as well as'against any possible rotation. To allow for wear of the locking mechanism and for differences in the diameters of the disks, a spring 336 is placed between fulcrum 332 and a side plate 331 so that when the cam is turned and locking shoe 322 engages disk 314, pressure is exerted on spring 336 by pin 332. The spring must have sufficient strength to exert the necessary locking force on shoe 322. It is desirable to have fulcrum 332 spring-controlled since the variations due to the manufacutring tolerances in the dimensions of several disks which may be used in the jig may result in excessive pressure on fulcrum 332 and its shearing ofi when the disks have large diameters, and lack of sufficient locking pressure on the disk when the disks are of small diameter. Since this jig is also used in the conoscope, in which case it is placed in the oil tank of the latter, the elevating and locking screws 3l0 and312, and cam 321, are all provided with similarly shaped heads, nuts, or studs so that the same wrench can be used for operating them through the oil used in the concscope.

The cutting jig is used for holding quartz 200 in the properly orient-ed position with respect to the reference edge 301 of the jig in all subsequent operations, which include transferring of quartz from the clamp and stand 201 to the turn-table of the cutting saw; from the cutting saw to the conoscope, from the conoscope again to the turntable of the cutting saw. The purpose of all these operations is to make a Z-block from quartz 200 which is accomplished when the Z-axis is made parallel to the bottom surface of the base plate 300 and perpendicular to the reference edge 301 of the jig, and two windows are cut at both ends of the Z-axis, the planes of the windows being perpendicular to the Z-axis.

Reverting once more to Fig. 2, the quartz secured in the tongs of the clamp is heated over a hot plate and is then mounted on the cutting jig. The cutting jig is placed on the base plate 202 with either reference surface 303 or 301 of the jig matching surface 233 of bar 232 so that the optical axis is perpendicular to the surface 301. In Fig. 2, jig 300 is illustrated in the position in which surface 301 matches surface 233, since the tongs in Fig. 2 have been turned from their normal position, as mentioned previously. Thus, in Fig. 2, the position of the jig matches the illustrated position of the tongs. In actual operation the jig and the tongs are turned 90 from the position illustrated in Fig. 2. A paper collar is then placed on the projecting portion of disk 314 and the quartz specimen 200 is lowered on the rectangular rod 228 into the cup formed by the paper ring and disk 314. The cup is then filled with a mixture of rosin and beeswax which has been rendered liquid by heat. When the mounting cement has cooled and hardened, the clamp is removed by opening the tongs 2113, 204, and the specimen is then ready for the first saw cuts.

The saw is illustrated in Fig. 5. It consists of a turn-table 500 and a diamond saw disk. 502. The turn-table 500 is provided with a guiding bar 504, the inner side surface 506 of which is exactly parallel to the plane of the saw disk 502. The reference edge 301 of the cutting jig is placed against the reference edge 506 of bar 504 on the turn-table of the saw so that the saw will cut the quartz at right-angles to the Z-axis. Two fiat windows 521, 528 (see Fig. 4) are now sawed at the ends of the optic axis, sufficient amount of quartz being sawed ofi at both ends of the optic axis so that the areas of the two windows overlap each other to some extent. In order to hold the cutting jig securely on the turn-table against the reference bar 504, the turn-table is provided with a locking bar 508 which is connected by means of a pin 510 to a lever arm 512. The lever arm is mounted on a bar 513 fixed to the turn-table of the saw by means of set screws 514 and 516. Guidin pins 511 and 513 are used for aligning the locking bar 508 with bar 513 211d for mounting springs 519 and 520 on the pins. The springs exert sufficient pressure on the cutting jig so as to hold the reference edge 301 of the jig securely against the reference bar 504 of the turn-table.

The Z-axis of quartz may be determined in the polariscope with the aid of the clamp of Fig. 2 only within two degrees, and therefore the saw cuts 521, 528 made in the X-Y plane of the crystal may not be exactly perpendicular to the true optic axis of the crystal. Since the plane of the XY cuts should be within fifteen minutes, which is the limit of the tolerated error, approximate determination of the Z-axis in the polariscope is followed by a more precise determination of the position of the Z-axis with respect to the windows in a conoscope shown in Fig. 4.

It should be mentioned here that making of cuts 521, 528 is necessary prior to the exact location of the Z-axis in the conoscope because the intensity of the monochromatic light in the conoscope is so low that proper facing of the crystal is necessary to avoid undue scattering of light by the unfaced, irregular surfaces of the quartz, and, moreover, for obtaining fairly well-centered interference patterns (Figs. 6 to 8), which will be described later.

' Referring to Fig. 4, which illustrates the vertical, cross-sectional view of the conoscope, it consists of an immersion tank 400 provided with two windows for mounting two optical systems 402 and 404 on two sides of the tank. (Actually the optical system of the conoscope is much more complex, and the illustrated condensers represent only a diagrammatic showing of the optical system). A source 406 of approximately monochromatic light is placed in line with the optical axis of the lenses, this source being, in the majority of the cases, a mercury lamp. The source is placed in front of a polaroid plate 408 called the polarizer-which polarizes the light entering theconoscope. Since the mercury lamp spectrum is not strictly monochromatic, a monochromatic filter M is placed between the polarizer and condenser 402 so that only monochromatic light enters condenser 402. The optical system 402 produces a convergent cone of light M2, the apex of the cone being approximately in the middle of the tank. After reaching the apex of the cone, the light diverges into a divergent cone 4I4 which is intercepted by the second optical system 404; the second optical system in turn focuses the light on a polaroid" plate 6 called the analyzer. The analyzer is rotated by a shaft 8 and a ratchet (not illustrated in the drawing), which permits the rotation of the analyzer only in one direction. An eye-piece lens 420 is provided with cross-hair. filaments 602 through 601 (see Fig. 6) which are used for determining the position of the interference pattern 600 or the ring images produced by quartz on analyzer 6. When the ring images 600 are exactly centered with respect to the cross-hairs 692 through 601, the Z-axis is parallelto the optical axis of the conoscope. The immersion tank 400 is filled with special oil 425 having the index of refraction substantially equal to the index refraction of quartz. For a more detailed description of the conoscope reference is made to the U. S. Patent 2,352,072 of W. L. Bond, issued June 20, 1944.

In order to provide some convenient and precise mechanical means for transferring the exact Z-axis determinations obtained in the conoscope to the turn-table of the saw, the cutting jig is used in the conoscope in the manner described below. The immersion tank 400 of the conoscope is provided with a reference edge or surface 422, the plane of this surface being perpendicular to the optical axis 423 of the instrument. The conoscope is also provided with a flat plate 424, the finely finished upper surface of which lies in a plane parallel to the optical axis 423 of the conoscope. This surface is used for supporting the cutting jig. The jig is placed into the immersion tank on plate 424, in the manner illustrated in the figure with the reference surface .30! of the jig matching the reference surface 422 of the conoscope. A clamp bar, similar to clamp bar 500 of the cutting saw, may be secured to plate 424 for holding the jig against edge 422. The ring images 600 may now be centered on the cross-hair filaments of the eyepiece by rotating disk 3 if the common center of the ring is displaced laterally with respect to the center cross-hair 603, as illustrated in Fig. 7.

If the common center of the rings is below the intersection of the cross-hair filaments, as illustrated in Fig. 8, they may be properly centered or raised so that the center of the interference rings coincides with the intersectionof the cross-hairs 603 and 606, as illustrated in Fig. 6, by elevating the hinged upper plate 302 of the jig. If the common center is above the intersection of the cross-hair filaments when the upper hinged plate is not elevated on the lower base plate, the quartz is rotated degrees by means of disk 3 to make the interference rings appear below the intersection of the cross-hair filaments (Fig. 8), and the upper plate is then elevated to center the rings. When the ring images are exactly centered in the manner illustrated in Fig. 6, disk 3 is locked by means of locking arm 326-and cam 32'! and the elevating screw M0 is locked by means of locking nut 3l2. With the interference rings thus properly centered, the optical axis of the crystal will then be parallel to the bottom surface of base plate 300 of the jig and perpendicular to the reference edge 30! of the jig. The hand" of the crystal may now be determined by rotating the analyzer MS of the conoscope.

If the determination of the optical axis made in the conoscope does not coincide with the previously made determination of the same axis in the polariscope, which is ordinarily the case, the original saw cuts 521 and 528 are not perpendicular to the optical axis and they must now be made perpendicular to this axis by making trim cuts, or sawing off just enough quartz to correct the windows. The new pieces, cut off while making the trim cuts, can be checked by using the X-ray analysis apparatus described in my co-pending application titled "Crystal analysis apparatus, Serial Number 594,468, filed May 18, 1945.

If the original cuts 521 and 528 are not perpendicular to the optical axis of the crystal. the cutting jig is removed from the conoscope and placed once more on the turn-table of the sawing machine in the manner previously described, the reference edge 30! of the cutting jig again matching the reference edge 506 of turn-table 500. The new windows will be within fifteen minutes of the true angle.

Having obtained an orientation within ten or fifteen minutes of the true angle, the created Z-block is removed fromthe circular plate 3 of the cutting jig and cleaned.

The next step in the orienting process of the quartz is to locate precisely one of the electrical or X-axis, in the Z-block. This is outlined in my above-mentioned co-pending application.

To sum up the procedure followed in obtaining the position of the Z-axis in a piece of unfaced quartz crystal and the advantages of this procedure, approximate position ofthe Z-axis is first obtained in the polariscope with the quartz held by hand. The position of the quartz is carefully noted and with the quartz held in this position it is transferred to the tongs clamp with the tongs placed on both sides of the Z-axis, and turned so that the Z-axis is parallel to reference surface 233 and the bottom of plate 202. With the quartz secured in the clamp, the clamp is transferred from stand 2M to stand 24 angLthe position of the Z-axis is checked more carefully by using the .ball-and-socket joint of the clamp, whereupon the clamp is removed from the polariscope and the quartz heated over a hot plate. The clamp is then mounted on stand 20! and cemented to the cutting jig, whereupon the jig is placed on the turn-table of the cutting saw and windows 52'! and 528 are cut. During this transfer of the jig from stand 20! to the cutting table 500, the reference surfaces 233, 3M, and 506 act as a means for transferring the Z-axis determinations obtained in the polariscope to the plane of the diamond saw disk 502, the plane of the latter being parallel to the plane of the reference surface 506 of the turn-table. With the windows thus cut, the jig is transferred to the conoscope where the reference edge 30! is placed against reference edge 422 of the conoscope and the position of the Z-axis determined with a much higher precision obtainable in the conoscope, whereupon the jig is transferred once more to the turn-table of the cutting saw. During the determination of the position of the optical axis in the conoscope, the jig provides convenient mechanical means for changing the angle between the optical axis of the conoscope and the plane of the Window. This angle may have vertical as well as horizontal components, and both components may be adjusted with the aid of the jig, the vertical component of the angle being adjusted by raising or lowering the upper plate 302, while the horizontal component of the angle is adjusted by rotating disk 3. The conoscope determination is transferred directly to the cutting saw without introducing any practically significant errors, the only possible error which may be introduced during the transfer being limited to infinitesimal irregularities which may exist 10 said disc down against the bottom of said well and locked against the angular rotation of said disc within said well upon the turning of said cam into the locking position.

2. -A jig of the class described comprising in combination a base plate of predetermined contour having a fiat upper surface, a second plate having flat up er and lower surfaces, hinge :means attaching said second plate to said base plate and enabling it to be angularly swung thereon, means for adjustably controlling-said swing and the angular positions of the plates relative to each other, a crystal supporting disc provided on the upper surface of said second plate and movable thereon to variably position a crystal holding device on said supporting disc, means for periphbetween the previously mentioned reference surfaces in the conoscope, the jig, and the turntable of the cutting saw. This error is much lower than the tolerated error of fifteen minutes. It is believed that the construction and operation of the disclosed apparatus as well as the main advantages thereof will be apparent from the given description. It should be understood that while I have shown and described my invention in preferred form, reasonable changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as sought to be defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A jig for determining the optical axes of quartz crystals in a conoscope, comprising a flat rectangular base plate, a second flat rectangular plate mounted on top of said first mentioned plate, a hinge interconnecting said plates, whereby said second plate may be rotated around said hinge, a circular well within said second plate, a disc rotatively mounted within said well, instrumentalities for locking and unlocking said disc within said well, said instrumentalities including a bifurcated lever arm, a cam connected to said second plate and positioned at the bifurcated end of said arm, and a locking shoe connected to said arm; said shoe engaging said disc so as to hold ei'ally securing said disc to the second plate and permitting same to be rotatively operated about a chosen axis thereof, a shoe mounted on the second plate for locking said disc in any portion of its movement, a lever arm having a recessed portion provided therein and attached to said shoe and mounted on said second plate arranged for controlling the locking operation of the shoe on said disc and a cam on the second plate operabl disposed in said portion and arranged to variably change the position of said lever and the locking position of said shoe.

3. A jig of the class described comprising in combination a base plate of predetermined contour having a flat upper surface, a second tiltable plate having fiat upper and lower surfaces, hinge means attaching said second plate to said base plate and enabling it to be angularly swung thereon, means for adjustably controlling said swing and the angular positions of the plates relative to each other, a flat crystal supporting disc provided on the upper surface of said second plate and rotatable thereon to variably position a crystal holding device on said supporting disc, adjustable means for peripherally securing said disc to the second plate and permitting same to be rotatively operated about a chosen axis thereof, a. shoe mounted on the second plate for locking said disc in any portion of its rotation, :a lever arm having a recessed portion provided therein and attached to said shoe and fulcrumed on said second plate arranged for controlling the locking operation of the shoe on said disc and a cam on the second plate operably disposed in said portion and arranged to variably change the position of said lever and the locking position of said shoe, said supporting disc consisting of a flat bevelled circular disc with a portion of its peripheral structure arrangedfor engagement with a tool for extraneously rotating it, said disc: fitting in a bevelled recessed P rtion in said second plate arranged to hold it rotatively therein without obstructing tool access to said peripheral structure, and resilient means on said lever arm for providing an operable tension thereon.

JOSEPH E. COLEBEAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED s'rs'ras rxrnn'rs 2,326,319 Bailey Aug. 10, 1943 

